


Swinging into your DMs

by Lady_Kickass



Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Aged Up Slightly, F/F, POWER RANGERS AU, Spiderman AU, Trini and Billy are bros, Trini is Spiderman, Trini is a reluctant hero, and Kim is her hot journalist partner that Trini is crushing on, but a photojournalist on the side, first fic on here, just doing my best guys, trimberly - Freeform, web journalism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-14
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2018-12-27 18:11:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12086547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Kickass/pseuds/Lady_Kickass
Summary: Trini never asked for this. She never asked to get bitten by a spider and receive Goddamn superpowers. She never saw herself swinging around, fighting a freakin' death goddess, or teaming up with the freakin' Avengers of all people. And she most definitely never asked to get paired up with the hottest reporter in Angel Grove City.Or that Spiderman Au that nobody else was writing so I had to go and do it my damn self. Trimberly for the win guys.





	1. Bite me.

"And over here, in this corner, we have an interesting sight for you. Thanks to recent research results, we are finding more and more new ways to combat radiation poisoning . Much of what we have learned comes from observing our creepy-crawly, eight-legged friends. In the residue of terrible nuclear sites, it has been discovered that some of the only creatures to survive those horrible disasters are those of the arachnid family." The tour guide motioned towards the glass tanks with an almost morbid cheerfulness, considering the chill-inducing demons from hell inside. Trini swallowed her initial disgust though, and pressed closer in an effort to get a good picture of the spiders. The tour guide only smiled at the reporters' muttered revulsion and continued her monologue, but Trini wasn't listening. It was the journalists' jobs to do that, she just took the pictures. 

"We have fourteen different spiders. Each a different species, ranging from the common garden spider to even the deadly brown recluse. Every one of these spiders have been exposed to radiation in some form and are monitered-"

"Thirteen." 

"Excuse me?" The tour guide didn't lose her plastic smile, but Trini could tell she was annoyed at being interrupted.

"There's only thirteen spiders in there. There's no Garden Spider- and that's not a Brown Recluse. It's actually a Cellar Spider, it's often mistaken for a Brown Recluse solely because its markings are rather similar." Billy Cranston- the enviromental journalist that Trini had been assigned to for the day- spoke up more clearly.

"Oh. Well, the scientists must be studying that one right now." The tour guide tried to save face. "Anyway, as I was saying...." 

Trini let the others go on ahead in favor of getting a better shot of the spiders. Judging by Billy's interest, he was sure to put them in his article. She didn't notice the small, black and yellow spider crawl up her leg, ascend her back, and scrabble out onto her arm. She didn't notice it until it sunk it's sharp pincers in her wrist. 

"Son of a Bitch!" Trini let out a sharp hiss and frantically slapped at the spider, until she succeeded in brushing it off. It promptly scurried off unharmed. Trini did a full body shiver and examined her wrist. There was already a little bump forming around where the spider had bit her. 

Fuck. She hoped the bite wasn't poisonous.

...... 

Fuck. Trini was pretty sure the spider bite was poisonous (or as Billy rambled on about in the car on the way back to work, venomous). 

Trini's head was spinning. She felt unusually warm, and her stomach was churning. She skipped out of work early- not that anyone noticed- and she was doing her best to make it up the last ten steps to her floor. Great time for the elevator to crash down on her, those last ten steps might as well have been a goddamn Mount Everest. Trini's vision was blurring, but she refused to back down without a fight. She just needed to get into bed. A couple hours of sleep should do the trick. It probably wasn't even from that spider; she had probably just caught some bug going around. She'd be fine. 

Hopefully. 

Trini really couldn't afford to go get herself checked out; she had no insurance. 

Somehow, Trini blinked and she was standing in front of her door, keys in hand. Talk about dissociation. How long had she been standing there? She was dying wasn't she? Trini shook her head firmly at that, and swallowed as best as she could with a dry mouth. She gripped her keys with her sweaty hands and fumbled around trying to unlock her door. It took a few tries, but finally she got the right key in and flung the door open. 

Trini stumbled towards the couch. In the back of her mind, she questioned if she had closed the door or not, but couldn't bring herself to care. 

Just five more steps to get to the couch. 

Four more steps..... 

Three more steps.... 

Tw- Trini collapsed there. She blacked out on the spot, just missing the love-seat. On the way down, her last coherent thought was: "Well, shit."


	2. A burning fire for justice. Or you know....superhero motivation.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Trini's origin! Of when she and Billy became bros.

"Trini?" Billy took a step back in surprise. "What are you doing here? How did you know where I liv-?"

"Sorry, Cranston, I would have called, but my phone is kinda on the fritz." Trini held up her completely crushed phone.

"You're phone's on the fritz?! It's completely crushed. Did you run it over? What happened? And you still haven't answered me about how you knew where I liv-"

Trini let out a groan and pushed past him into his apartment. "I needed to talk to someone. I'm completely losing my mind, I can't afford a doctor, and you're like my only resort."

"Losing your mind?" Billy edged towards his cellphone that was resting on the couch. Trini remembered his penchant for misunderstanding exaggerations as literal statements and hurried to shake her hands in amendment.

"No! No, I mean I'm stressed. Something....happened to me, and I feel like I'm going crazy. I needed to find someone to tell me that this isn't real, that it's some kind of joke." Trini paced frantically. "That this entirely outside the realm of possibility. And, well, you're pretty much the smartest person I know."

"Thank you." Billy said automatically; though, he was still eyeing his phone. "What do you mean something happened to you?"

"I mean I woke up this morning and somehow found I was able to do this." Trini picked Billy's couch up with one hand and held it above her head.

"....."

"Cranston?" Trini looked at him helplessly.

"Um....Trini? Have you been going to the gym alot lately? Because the level of strength that you possess seems entirely disproportionate to your body mass." Billy's eyes were wide in shock. "I mean, I suppose it's not completely impossible. You do wear alot of layers; so, you could have more muscle mass than I would have initially thought but-"

"Cranston, I may have been in shape before, but even I know this humanly impossible for someone my size." Trini began to walk back and forth once again, forgetting that she was holding the couch suspended above their heads. Billy had to keep ducking so it wouldn't hit him. "Last night I thought I was dying, and when I woke up on the floor this morning the first thing I did was smash my phone when all I did was tap the screen! My eyesight was all blurry until I took my contacts out, because apparently my vision is twenty-twenty again! I opened my refrigerator door and tore it off its hinges by accident."

"Cranston." Trini solemnly set a heavy hand on Billy's shoulder and he struggled to stay standing under the pressure she was applying. "I back-flipped over a car. Without even touching it."

Billy sank to the floor, overwhelmed. "Trini, I know I'm not the most aware when it comes to people making jokes, but you're not serious right?"

"I'm literally holding a couch above my head! I'm pretty damn serious!"

"Okay. Okay." Billy tried to dissuade her panic. "Okay."

Trini groaned. She finally set the couch down and collapsed on it. "What the fuck is wrong with me?"

"Alright. So we just have to go over everything that happened to you yesterday." Billy tried to collect himself and focus past the sheer absurdity of his current predicament. " You said you felt like you were dying last night? Did that have something to do with this? What did you mean by that? Were you really dying? Do you have any idea what brought this on?"

"I felt woozy and sick to my stomach. Like I had really high fever. I just thought that I had some kind of virus that was going around. Or that that spider that bit me at the exhibit was poisonous." Trini buried her face in her hands.

"Venomous." Billy corrected automatically. "Wait! Spider? At the exhibit? Do you mean one of the radioactive test subjects that were on display?"

"No, this one wasn't on display. It was just crawling on my arm and the little fucker bit me. Only the poisonous ones do that, right?"

"Venomous. And almost every species of spider will bite if they feel threatened." Billy waved impatiently. "What kind of spider was it? What did it look like?"

"It was black and-and yellow, I think." Trini spluttered in frustration. "I don't see how that has anything to do with my current situation. Lot's of people have been bitten by spiders and they don't get supernatural strength and reflexes."

"Yellow and black? Trini! That wasn't just any spider? That was a Yellow Garden spider!" Billy jumped to his feet, excitedly. "The one missing from it's case! It had radiation in its system. Yeah, lot's of people get bitten by spiders, but you're the first person to get bitten by a  _radioactive_ spider!"

.........

"No! No. No. No. And a hundred times NO!" Trini stormed out of Billy's apartment. "You're crazy!"

Trini was probably faster than Billy at this point, but as it was he was able to catch up with her before she even got a half-block away from his street. He must have taken a short-cut. He did know the area more than she did.

"Just....just hear me out." Billy panted, pleadingly holding up a hand as a gesture for her to stop. Trini gave him her most impressive glare, but she crossed her arms and waited for him to continue. This day was beyond confusing and Billy was being completely ridiculous, but Trini was desperately grasping for some form of clarity. This was all because of some tiny spider? Trini began  to feel her old revulsion for the creatures increase with every passing second.

"You've got superpowers, Trini! Abilities that people dream of having, especially now that we have the Avengers!" Billy was definitely more enthusiastic about this than she was. Why couldn't he have been the one it bit. "You can't just let them go to waste! Imagine what you could do with them! All the people you could help!"

"I didn't ask for them!" Trini clenched her fists and willed herself to be ordinary. Her normal self. Invisible to everyone. "I didn't ask to get freak-show abilities! I don't have to do shit with them! And you suggesting that I go all ape-shit vigilante with them is insane! You know that right? This isn't some comicbook, Billy! This is real life. I don't have some twisted-up, dark, origin story that deludes me into putting on tights and a mask, and makes me think I can change the world! I'm not some goddamn Batman who believes she's prejudiced and self-righteous enough to think that she's the only one who knows what justice is."

"Well, Batman doesn't actually have any superpowers-" Billy cut himself off swiftly when Trini let out a growl. "But that's beside the point! You can't just do nothing! It's-It's like.....with great power comes great responsibility! If you stand by and don't do anything when you have the power to do it, then what kind of person are you?"

"Number one: " Trini held up a finger. "Yes, I can do nothing. And two: That makes me a completely sane person and not some self-pompous idiot! We're done, Cranston! This is all some kind of crazy dream. I'm hallucinating! I'm going to go back to bed, and when I wake up none of this will have happened. Got it?"

Trini didn't wait to see if he did in all actuality get it, and ran off as fast as her legs would take her. Which was pretty fast.

.....

Trini had fully intended to do exactly what she had told Billy. Sure her Editor-in-Chief at  _The Angel Grove Daily_ was going to be pretty pissed that she was a no call, no show, but she couldn't bring herself to care. This took priority, and she knew he wasn't going to fire her. She was his best photographer and she was practically running the paper's website, because she was the only one available who knew how to use a computer competently. But the moment Trini saw smoke in the direction of her apartment, she began to get a sinking feeling in her stomach. There was no way to be sure that was her apartment, but something nagging in the back of her head told her that it was. Fuck. Her laptop was in there. Trini picked up speed and cut down the nearest alley. 

It was her apartment, Trini could see flames as she got closer. Could hear all the sirens and see the police and firefighters as they cordoned off the area around it in a one hundred foot radius. Worse, she could hear the screams coming from inside. Even more worse, the flames were too hot and engulfing for the firefighters to get in. Too top it all off, she witnessed her next door neighbor, Mr. Hampton, screaming for his child inside. 

Trini's pulse was pounding, and she could hear her heartbeat. Without even realizing it, she had begun to run towards the apartment building. She had no plan, no idea of what she was going to do or how she'd be of more use than the firefighters, but she had to do something. Already, she was flipping her hoodie up and pulling her shirt over her nose to filter the smoke as best as she could. Already, she was drawing closer to the flimsy barriers cordoning off the area and jumping over them as if it was her second nature. 

Trini dimly heard some of the policemen shouting in surprise and running after her to stop her. She couldn't stop though, because there were people in there and Trini could do something to help them. She felt it in her chest. 

The fire crackled and the heat was overwhelming on it's own. Even as she ran to it Trini's eyes roamed the building, seeking the place of entry that looked the most clear of flames. The closest was a window on the second floor. Trini braced herself and leaped for the sill. Her heart surged up into her throat, and time froze as Trini willed herself to reach the window. Her heart plunged back down as she fell short and Trini closed her eyes and scrabbled at the wall, bracing herself as best as she could for the inevitable crash to the ground. It never happened, and Trini opened her eyes carefully. Somehow she was clinging to the bare wall with just her fingers. Trini experimentally pulled her right hand from the wall, and when her left still held on she reached higher and began to climb hand by hand until she reached the window sill. Trini hauled herself inside, coughing at the thick smoke that choked her lungs and made her eyes well up. She pushed herself on though, determined to not rest until she had cleared everyone inside. She had never been more terrified in her life, but her legs kept moving and her ears pricked up for even the slightest sound of human life over the harsh roar of the cackling fire.

Fuck. This was going to be how Trini died wasn't it? 

At least she had a decent excuse for why she didn't turn up at work.

.....

It was ten o'clock at night, but Billy still opened his door. His eyes widened at what Trini assumed was her disheveled appearance. She was covered in soot and smelled like she had emerged fresh from the ashes of a furnace. She had scrapes and burns, but hey she was alive. Trini held up a hand to stop Billy from speaking. 

"Three rules." Trini held up her fingers tiredly. "One: You're going to let me stay here for the time being. Two: We're going to figure out the extent of my abilities and someway for me to train before I hit the streets."

"And the third one?" Billy was trying his hardest to hide his beam and contain his obvious excitement.

"I'm not wearing fucking tights."

 


	3. Who knew that misogyny would be the best disguise?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trini discovers the hidden joys of a vigilante lifestyle. Featuring: Brightside Billy and an appearance from a late riser who just wants her dad to get off her back.

Trini had to admit if Billy was anything, it was ridiculously patient. She had practically invaded his personal space, and thanks to her lack of control concerning her powers, there was a concerning lack of doorknobs in his apartment. And doors. Billy didn't seem to mind that much though. Oddly he was more excited and curious about Trini's powers than she was. Good thing too, because Trini wasn't going to be the one to design her costume. 

"You have to cover your face up somehow, Trini! Are you really completely against a full mask?" Billy was scrawling vigorously on pad of paper, sitting crosslegged on his couch as Trini lay on the ground bench-pressing it with one hand and biting into an apple with her other. Her body burned off whatever she ate so quickly, she felt like she was eating constantly nowadays. 

"It's too suffocating." Trini insisted, switching hands. 

"Well, how about a scarf or a bandana? You could wear it on your lower face. Oh, and goggles! You could wear goggles! I think I could figure out how to enhance them too, make them night vision!" 

"Sure, Billy."

"Goggles could strap over the hoodie too, and keep it up so it doesn't fall down when you're moving around!"

"Mmm-hmm." Trini rolled over onto her stomach, making sure not to jostle the couch too much as she settled into a comfortable position and began to do one-handed push-ups. "Goggles sound good, but I want to keep the hoodie. And jeans. I'm not not wearing jeans, while I fight crime. Remember what I said about tights." 

"Right, right." Billy brushed her off with a careless wave of his hand. "And fingerless gloves! They'll really bring out an urban street-fighter look and leave your fingers exposed so you can climb easy. Maybe I can reinforce the knuckles with some tough leather padding to protect them while you throw your punches. Now about the shoes, you'll need something sturdy with good grip." 

"I'm gay, Billy. I have combat boots." 

"I don't see what your sexuality has to do with shoes, Trini, but combat boots will work out great." Billy finished scribbling and leaned over the edge of his couch to show Trini his work. "For the color scheme, I'm thinking yellow and black." 

"Because it's my favorite color?" Trini felt oddly touched. Nobody had ever really bothered to get to know her, and the fact that Billy had realized her favorite color without asking was yellow....... it was a nice feeling. 

Billy blinked. "Oh, that's a convenient coincidence. I just thought it'd be nice to match the spider's color scheme. Symbolism is a big thing in the comic-books." 

Oh. Right. That....that actually made more sense. Trini wondered vaguely if the spider bite had made her more of a sentimental idiot. 

....................

Trini had to admit that Billy had done an incredible job on her costume. The most she had expected was a black and yellow hoodie and some generic bandana, but Billy had definitely outdone himself. He had custom sewn and designed the hoodie himself, so that the body was black with a giant white spider design sewn into the front, and a smaller, fatter, yellow spider symbol covered the back of the hoodie. The sleeves and hood of the sweater were a yellow, web-like pattern that the bandana matched. The bandana was really nice too, it was light and easy for Trini to breathe through. Trini had to admit, she looked really good, and she got so caught up in her enthusiasm for it she went out and bought yellow shoe laces for the boots. 

It wasn't until Trini finally got a chance to put the outfit on that she fully comprehended how real this was. Just what she had gotten herself into. She would have thought her overlying emotion was going to be regret, and that she'd immediately call the whole thing off. But....it felt right. As crazy as it sounded- her as a vigilante- it felt like it fit. Like this was what she was born to do, what she was meant to do. Trini had never been one for believing in destiny, but in her new identity she felt like her whole life had been leading up to this point in time. She was going to be a superhero. 

......... 

Trini groaned and collapsed in the seat at her tiny desk stuck in the tiniest cubicle on the tiny floor of the newspaper room- Mr. Jameson enjoyed pointing out how small she was. She was so sore. Only a week of breaking up drug feuds, stopping break-ins, and preventing a god-awful amount of sexual assaults, and Trini was beginning to see just how naïve she had been. She thought it was going to be easy, after all she had insane strength, fast reflexes, and some sort of sixth sense that alerted her to when something was about to go down (Spidey sense! Was Billy's gleeful label for it). Turned out there had been multiple issues that Trini hadn't accounted for. 

One: Some baddies enjoyed working as a pack, and while Trini was agile it was hard to defend yourself effectively when you're surrounded on all sides by a group of five angry men. (Girls liked girls with scars and black eyes, right? Battle wounds were a turn-on, or at least Trini hoped they were). 

Two: Crime never sleeps, and now neither did Trini. Which wouldn't be a bad thing if Trini didn't have a real job she had to be at at six in the morning. Which led to her third issue. 

Three: Crime doesn't pay, and neither did preventing it. The thing Trini hadn't taken into account when she had decided to go full-blown Batman, was that Batman was also Bruce Wayne, a multi-billionaire that didn't have to do a lick of work to earn his fortune. See, Trini was Trini, a homeless Latina stuck sleeping on the couch of a sort-of-friend until she saved up enough money to moved out. And Trini had never been the best at juggling work and "extra-curriculur" activities. 

So, yeah, Trini was exhausted and constantly on the edge of what felt like a breaking point, but it was cool. She just needed to find a steady routine and then balance would come easy. 

"Hey, Trini...... Oh, you don't look so good." As always, Billy was bluntly honest. 

"Way to flatter a girl." Trini grumbled and took a long draught of her coffee. "I had a long night, 'sup?" 

"Well, I...." Billy visibly hesitated, as if debating in his head if he should continue whatever it was he had gone over to talk to Trini about in the first place. "Did you see the paper yet?" 

"Our paper? No, not yet. I swear to god, if Todd imposed some whacked up filter over my pictures I'm going to-" 

"No. No. Your pictures are fine." Billy hurried to dissuade her. "It's just.... Jameson had Hunter write up an article on..... that vigilante that everyone's talking about?"

Trini perked up. This, this was the moment she had been waiting for. Finally, she'd get to know what everyone thought about her. What they were calling her, what they were thinking about her. They'd be commenting on how she was cleaning up the streets better than the cops. That, already, violent crime had gone down a couple of points. Trini snatched the paper from Billy's hand and scanned the headline, only to be disappointed by an article on some corporate CEO's donation to PETA. How were they not over PETA yet? Trini shot Billy a confused look. 

"Uh......" Billy fidgeted slightly, and avoided her eyes. "Page 6." 

Trini frowned, a feeling of dread beginning to settle in her gut while she flipped to the section reserved for minor stories and gossip columns. Anxiously, she scanned the page until her eyes landed on a ridiculously short column composed of only three small paragraphs, entitled: Masked Menace Mocks Police. 

"Masked Menace?!" Trini's eyes flew over the article until her eyes landed on another offensive description. "Spider- _Man _! The fuck? How fucking unbelievably sexist and gender-conforming can they get?"__

Billy winced as Trini's voice dropped more and more into a low growl until she was practically hissing her words. 

"Avengers wannabe? _FUNSIZED _!!"__

__"So it's not entirely ideal, but maybe there's a brightside to all of this."_ _

__Billy was certain Trini's glower alone could have stopped organized crime more effectively than her fists. "How the fuck is there a brightside in this?"_ _

__"If they think you're a man, nobody will suspect you at all!"_ _

__When Trini's fist dented her filing cabinet, Billy got the impression that his feeble attempt at cheering her up had fallen flat._ _

......

Kimberly Hart moved about the kitchen, blearily. Navigating the large space more so out of daily habit than by sight, she started up the expensive Keurig coffeemaker and stared it down as if that would motivate it to work faster. 

"Good morning, Master Kimberly!" 

Kimberly whirled about so fast she stubbed her toe on the refrigerator. She hopped around for a moment, clutching her toe and cursing. "Don't _do _that, Alpha! It's way too early."__

__"It's two o'clock in the afternoon."_ _

__" _Too early _."Kimberly emphasized, rubbing her eyes groggily. "What is it?"___ _

___"Zordan wants to meet with you right away." The small android paused as if taking in Kimberly's appearance for the first time. "Or as soon as you're more presentable."_ _ _

___Kimberly looked down, considering the outfit that the android was eyeing dubiously. She was wearing a t-shirt that was definitely too big to belong to her. Probably Jason's then, but she knew Captain America was too much of a pushover to demand it back. Maybe it was the pink, arrow printed, boxers she wore as sleeping bottoms that Alpha was judging her for. Kimberly couldn't resist buying all the Hawkeye merchandise she could find. There wasn't a lot._ _ _

___"What does Wall Dad want with me this time? Is he mad about the hole in the gym wall? Because I don't know anything about that, and I'm sure if there is a hole in the gym wall, than it must be Zack's fault." Kimberly grabbed the coffee pot and drank directly from it. Might as well cut out the middle man._ _ _

___"There's a hole in the gym wall?!"_ _ _

___"I don't know. Probably not. Just theoretically, if there were." Kimberly hurried to cover up her tracks._ _ _

___"Ai yi yi." Alpha sounded like he would have been massaging his temples if he had any temples to massage. "No, Zordan wants to talk to you about a recruiting job. Have you read this morning's paper?"_ _ _

___"Alpha, it's too-"_ _ _

___"Early. I know." Alpha cut her off. "Zordan saw an interesting article in there, and he thinks he's found someone with a lot of potential."_ _ _

___"So? Why doesn't he send Zack?" Kimberly groaned and slumped against the counter. She didn't want to get dressed. There went her whole morning, er, afternoon. She had had plans. Parks and Rec wasn't going to binge itself, Zack wasn't going to punch himself (though, that would have been something Kimberly would want to see), and Jason was going to get confused when his phone kept changing the word "training" to "fucking hell". Kimberly didn't want to miss that._ _ _

"Zordan thinks this one should be approached with a little less _enthusiasm _and a little more _subtlety _." Alpha emphasized. "He doesn't want a repeat of last time, and he thinks this one will need a little more.....convincing."____

___"Seductive convincing? Or you know...." Kimberly wiggled her eyebrows and smacked her open palm with a fist._ _ _

___"Neither!" Zordan's enormous face popped up on the large flat screen that covered one entire stretch of the kitchen wall. Kimberly leapt and spilled coffee all over herself, which prompted another vigorous bout of cursing from her._ _ _

___"JESUS, Zordan!"_ _ _

___"Language, Hart." Zordan had a disapproving frown etched on his already resting disapproving face. "My office in ten minutes. I suggest you use that time to clean up and dress more appropriately as this late hour dictates. Alpha, would you mind dropping by the gym? It would appear that a large hole has unexplainably manifested over night."_ _ _

___"What a bizarre coincidence." Alpha grumbled._ _ _

___"So bizarre." Kimberly agreed, giving the android a wide-eyed innocent look as she shuffled past him. She would have felt sorry, but her toe was still sore and her- Jason's- shirt was stained with coffee. This wasn't shaping up to a be a good day at all._ _ _

___Or, you know, afternoon._ _ _

Kimberly's phone buzzed, and a smile cracked her face when she read golden boi Captain America's message. 

"We missed you in fucking hell this morning."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I liked the headfanon that Kim deals with depression, and I couldn't resist comparing her to Marvel's own disheveled walking posterboy of depression. So here's a chart of who's who from what can be gathered so far.  
> Trini=Spider-Man  
> Jason=Captain America  
> Kimberly=Hawkeye  
> Zordan=Director Fury  
> Alpha=Jarvis


	4. Trini. Gay? It's more likely than you'd think.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The press loves to hate Trini. Kimberly Hart is drop-dead gorgeous, but at what cost?? And Billy Cranston is the best friend everyone needs, but doesn't deserve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, if you're on tumblr you should check out bluearrow126. It's a great blog, and they made a hella cool aesthetic post for this story!

"You know, I'm flattered." Trini grunted as she planted an elbow in one of the hired goons' nose, feeling it crunch with some satisfaction. "I haven't felt this wanted since the police stuck my face on a piece of paper and claimed I was a criminal." 

Something tingled in the back of Trini's head, and she knew to jump away out of experience. Using the alley wall to bound off, she bounced back and slammed fists first into the mercenary holding a gun. His head slammed off the opposite wall, and he went down without knowing what hit him. Trini shook her fist and cast a scornful gaze around at the bodies that littered the ground of the tiny alley she had been ambushed in. She felt kind of offended. Wasn't Kingpin supposed to be some legendary evil mob boss? His little pawns weren't really doing much to inforce that bad rep. 

Whatever, Trini had been looking for something just like this. Might as well send a message to the fat baldy while she had the chance. She retrieved her camera from the bag that she had disposed of behind the dumpster, and set it up with a countdown. She got into frame, kneeling next to her unconscious baddies, and offered the camera a sarcastic middle finger. Why not? Might as well uphold the bad image the public already had of her. 

It wasn't like she wasn't getting paid for it. 

.......... 

"The more I read up on it, the more I see how far behind progress on these reactors are. Given the right materials, Trini, I know I could make a reactor a sixteenth the size of the ones we have now, and it would easily produce ten times more energy!" Billy was waving his sandwich vigorously. He had taken to eating his lunch with Trini in her tiny cubicle ever since their pseudo-friendship had begun. It was alright. Trini hadn't really made a lot of friends since she moved to Angel Grove. Not ones she ate lunch with on the regular that is. Her type generally ran as training partners in her tai chi classes, who weren't too put off by her enthusiasm in attacking things fists first and who she didn't hang out with after practice. Billy was wildly different from them though. 

"Did you read my article on it? It ran in the technology section last week."

Shit. That's right. Friends did that sort of thing, didn't they? Trini _had _attempted to read Billy's work, but it was filled with long words like palladium and electromagnet and some strange form of measurement that he kept referring to as gigajoules? Trini had fallen asleep halfway through the first three sentences. She racked her brain for what she had seen and what she could draw from the context of Billy's rave.__

__"Yeah, um....I liked that part about producing lots of power?"_ _

__Trini felt relieved as soon as Billy's eyes lit up. She had said the right thing. Thank Sappho._ _

"Right! But not just power, I'm talking sustainable energy. Like a-like a battery that never dies, or at least not in your lifetime and is capable of running technology that as of so far we've only dreamed of!" 

"Is that your latest project?" Trini was trying, she really was. Billy was so supportive of her and he had done so much to help her, that she felt like she'd never be able to repay him. He'd always have her attention, he had never really gotten it from anyone else. He deserved someone who listened to him, and Trini could do that much. 

"I wish." Billy didn't sound too disappointed, just wistful. As if he had long ago accepted some kind of truth, and didn't think he'd ever be able to do half the things he wanted to do. "I don't have the kind of time or materials for that kind of work. That kind of project would cost millions, and I doubt anyone wants to fund some journalist with a "handicap". Not that I think it's a handicap. It's just that other people do." 

"I know what you mean, Billy." 

"No, this is my latest project!" Bill eagerly pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Trini. 

Trini stuck her own sandwich in her mouth so she could take the paper and unfold it. She looked at the design etched on it, and tried to piece together what it was, but Billy's inventions were always way too technical and complicated for her to understand. She had learned awhile ago that the quickest way was to just ask. 

"They look like bracelets? What are they?" 

Billy stuck his head out the cubicle to make sure no one was listening, before he turned and whispered. "They're _web shooters _!"__

__He looked so pleased with himself, Trini wished desperately that she knew what he was talking about. Billy noticed her confusion and didn't seem to mind._ _

__"I've worked out this formula that is identical to what spiders make their webs from, but it's as thick as a rope and twenty times stronger! And all while retaining it's sticky texture so that it can attach to surfaces! These "bracelets" will shoot it out."_ _

__"Billy! You're a genius!" That boy never ceased to amaze Trini. Seriously, what had she done to deserve him?_ _

__Billy looked almost embarrassed by her compliment. He opened his mouth only to get cut off by a bellow originating from the direction of Jameson's office._ _

"WHERE'S THAT TINY SONOFABITCH GOMEZ!??" 

"Huh, he sounds like he's in a good mood today." Trini crawled along the side of her cubicle so she could get around Billy without forcing him to get up. There really wasn't room for both of them. 

"I don't know, Trini. He doesn't sound like he's in a good mood to me. He sounds-oh." Billy stopped once he saw Trini's wink. They had established that as a signal, so Trini could clue him in on when people were joking or being sarcastic in conversations. "Good luck!" 

Billy continued to eat his sandwich comfortably, and opened his book up. Might as well get some reading done in the five minutes and thirty seconds of lunch break he had left. However, that wasn't meant to be. He had only gotten through three pages before the elevator doors right next to Trini's cubicle slid open with a DING! (Trini was always complaining about how loud that bell was.) Billy was going to ignore it, thinking it was just someone returning from their lunch, but he was interrupted. 

"Excuse me? Is this the front desk?" 

That was another thing Trini hated, how often she was mistaken for the front desk and was forced to deal with unwanted visitors. 

"No, that's a common mistake. Whoever designed the office didn't do a good job with the layout. It's just around that bend, you won't find anyone there though, Missy's on lunch." Billy jumped to his feet to help the woman. "Can I give you a hand with anything?" 

"That'd be great! I'm Kimberly Hart, the new investigative journalist. I'm supposed to talk to the Chief Editor, Mr. Jameson?" She had a nice smile. 

Billy shook her extended hand cheerfully. "I'm Billy Cranston! I write and edit for the science and technological section. I can show you to Jameson's office, but you might have to wait a while. He's in the middle of a meeting." 

"NO! I ASKED FOR SPIDERMAN PICTURES! NOT WALLPAPER TO DECORATE THE INSIDE OF AN OUTHOUSE WITH!" Jameson roared. 

"So people can look at them while they wipe their asses with this pathetic newspaper?" Billy heard Trini snark back. She was used to Jameson's insults at this point. 

"It's probably going to be a long wait. This happens every Monday." Billy apologized, not even flinching at the string of curses Jameson was hurling at Trini. "Jameson's a bit of a cheapskate and he's always trying to lower the price on Trini's pictures." Kimberly Hart seemed entirely unaffected by the argument going on, on the contrary she seemed to find it amusing as she and Billy waited outside of Jameson's office. 

"I read your work in last week's paper." Kimberly told him in between Trini's insulting of Jameson's newspaper and Jameson's criticizing of Trini's pictures. "That piece on arc reactors was very enlightening. You do your research well." 

"Thank you!" Billy beamed. "It's something I just started reading up on two weeks ago. It's a pity, because I can't find a lot of accurate and reliable information on the subject. There's so much pure conjecture on it, it can be a little frustr-" 

"FINE, IF YOU THINK THIS NEWSPAPER IS GARBAGE, TODAY'S YOUR LUCKY DAY! YOU'RE FIRED, GOMEZ! WHY DON'T YOU TAKE YOUR PICTURES TO THE SANITATION DEPARTMENT!?" 

"I'll be sure to do that!" Trini's voice of frustration answered back. "And I'll make sure to give the morgue a call so they can come collect this sorry excuse of scrap-paper that you keep trying to pass off as a credible news source!" 

Trini stormed out of the office, flipping the bird behind her as she went. So angry, she didn't even notice Billy and Kimberly waiting outside. 

"Huh, their fights usually last longer. Trini's pictures must have been really good this week." Billy gave Kimberly an encouraging smile and motioned her into Jameson's office. She moved hesitantly, and with a confused look on her face, but Billy just waved. "I look forward to working with you, Kimberly Hart." 

Ten minutes later, Billy didn't even look up from his computer when he heard Jameson yell from his office: "WHERE THE FUCK IS GOMEZ?!" or when Trini stomped past again, already growling under her breath. 

All was normal. 

.............

Trini walked into the Chief Editor's office ready to debate the price of her pictures again. That's what she and Jameson did every Monday. He'd call her in and say that her pictures were shit and try to pay less than promised. Trini would refuse, they'd get in a heated argument, Jameson would fire her, and then fifteen minutes later he'd yell for her and pay the usual price for her photos. It was a weekly ritual at this point. 

"I'm fired, remember?" Trini would comment sarcastically. 

"Well you just got rehired, thank your lucky stars, Gomez. I'm in a good mood; so, I've decided to take your pictures. Not like anyone else wants them. Ask Browne to write up your check." Jameson would grumble back around a cigar. 

At least that was what would normally happen. Trini's foot was through the door, mouth already open, and she was poised to say her piece of dialogue when she realized there was someone else besides Jameson in the room. She stopped abruptly just inside the door and hesitated, this had never happened before. This was abnormal. 

The door clicked shut behind Trini, causing the newcomer to turn and Jameson to look up, but Trini couldn't care less about Jameson at that moment. 

_Gay _. Trini was _fucking gay _. If she hadn't figured it out five years ago, Trini would have known it on the spot directly in that moment. Never before had she experienced such a moment of absolute realization. It was a sharp moment of clarity, and Trini half expected the woman to be surrounded by a pillar of light and have a halo appear over her head to the sound of an angelic choir. She was that gay.____

The woman was stunning. From her lithe graceful frame to the short bob that framed her face to the way her mouth was already stretching into a friendly smile. From the overconfident way she held her head to the lift in her left eyebrow....

"Gomez!" Jameson barked around the cigar clenched in his teeth, and Trini welcomed the chance to turn her entire attention on the editor before she did something to embarrass herself. "What the fuck took you so long?" 

"Got lost on my way back from sanitation." Trini made herself drawl. The other girl seemed to smirk at that, and Trini felt insignificant in comparison to her. Like she was taking up too much space and weighed more than a freighter. Trini was fucking Spider-Man and had heightened everything, yet, under the stare of this other woman she felt all kinds of awkward with a side of extra gravity to make her feel heavier. 

"Sanitation? What the fuck were you doing in-" Realization hit Jameson and he coughed. "Yes, well, consider yourself rehired and all that shit. You can pick a check up from Browne later. Never mind that now. Hart this Gomez, Gomez this is Hart. She's the new investigative journalist." 

Hart held out her hand and Trini shook it numbly. Thank Aphrodite she had a resting unimpressed face, because if her expression had reflected the mess she was inwardly, the Reporter would have been amused by how much of a gay disaster she was. 

"Nice to meet you." 

Was Hart eyeing her? She couldn't be, Trini was _so _projecting at this point. She could only bring herself to nod in return to Hart's greeting._ _

__"Get comfortable with her, you're officially assigned as her partner now. She's going to get us that inside scoop on Spider-Man's real motives that Harrison could never dream of getting close to."_ _

__"What?!" Trini almost got whiplash, she spun on Jameson so quickly. "But Billy's my partner."_ _

__"No! Cranston _was _your partner, he's paired up with Craig now. You're the only one who's gotten me half-way decent pictures of that bug-freak; so, you're officially reassigned. Do I make myself clear?"___ _

Trini didn't care how attractive this girl was, she was no Billy. Billy understood her and gave her room to breathe when she took her pictures. Billy knew who she really was, and Trini was able to slip off when they were out on the job because Billy always covered for her. _Billy was her best friend. _.__

__Trini was bristling at this point and was on the verge of doing something stupid. Like picking up Jameson's desk and hurling it out the window kind of stupid, when Hart cleared her throat, reminding her that the Journalist was still there. Trini swallowed hard and forced herself to breathe. Slowly, she resigned herself._ _

__"You're clearer than crystal. Anything else?" Trini asked, bitterly sarcastic to the end._ _

__"Yeah, matter of fact there is. There's no other available cubicles; so, you two are going to have to share."_ _

Of fucking course, because Trini's day couldn't possibly get any worse. 

............... 

Trini stood, arms crossed and just looked into her- sorry _her and Hart's _\- cubicle with disbelief. How the fuck had they even managed to fit two desks in there? The way their chairs were placed, they were going to be sitting back to back. Trini wasn't one for having her personal space intruded on at the best of days, this was just pushing boundaries straight out the window.__

__"Good thing you're small, I guess." Hart flashed her a sympathetic smile. "Looks like we'll be playing sardines every day now."_ _

__Trini stared at her. She had been told that she had an excellent bitch face by one of her exes; so, that had to account for something. You wouldn't have thought so, going by Hart's friendly expression._ _

__"So, that was a really bad introduction. I'm Kimberly by the way, you can call me Kim."_ _

__Yeah, Trini realized it wasn't really the other woman's fault. That it was just another form of retaliation from Jameson, because they both knew he'd never really fire her and he hated not being able to hold that over his employees' heads. But then again, if she wasn't here, Trini would still be partners with Billy and she'd have her cubicle to herself again. She had never liked her cubicle before, but now that she was forced to share, she remembered it with fondness._ _

__Kim slowly lowered her hand again, and exhaled. Her smile wavered slightly. "Okay..... Um.....Well. You got a first name? Or do you just go by Gomez?"_ _

"Trini! Did you get your regular commission for those-" Billy blinked when he saw the two of them standing together. "Oh, Kimberly Hart! How'd your meeting with Jameson go?" 

Wait What?! "You know her?" Trini uncrossed her arms and turned to him in confusion. 

"Me and Billy met earlier. He showed me to Mr. Jameson's office." Kimberly explained. "The meeting went fine, Billy. Looks like I'm assigned with _Trini _here now."__

__"No, there must be some mistake here. Trini and I are-"_ _

__"She's right Billy." Trini told him glumly. "Jameson paired us up for the Spider-Man investigation he's got going. Craig's working with you now."_ _

__Billy blinked, clearly as taken aback and disappointed as Trini had been. "Oh....I see. That's....that's great. I'm sure you two will get along perfectly. Trini's the best photographer here, you know, Kimberly Hart, and she knows Angel Grove city better than anyone else here. You're in good hands."_ _

__"I'm sure we'll make a good team." Kimberly Hart flashed him a warm smile. "Now, I've never actually written for a newspaper before, this is my first opportunity. Would it be okay if we met after work for drinks; so, you could give me a few tips?"_ _

__Trini knew she was oblivious when it came to flirting, but she was pretty sure Kimberly was hitting on Billy. Which was.......odd. Not that there was anything wrong with Billy. Trini loved Billy to death, but no one else really ever associated with him other than asking for favors. He definitely never got hit on in all the time she had known him._ _

__"Sure! My work tends to be more technical than it is actually about major stories, but I'd be happy to help." If there was anyone more oblivious about flirting than Trini was, it was Billy._ _

__"Thank you so much!" Kimberly gushed a little too over the top. "You're a lifesaver!"_ _

__Yeah, that was definitely flirting. Something was up. Trini's spidey senses only went off right before she got attacked, but her gut senses was pretty accurate. And right then, her gut senses were telling her that this investigative journalist was suspicious._ _

__"-Trini? Trini?"_ _

__Trini blinked back into focus, when Billy waved a hand in front of her. "Yeah, Billy?"_ _

__"I just asked if you wanted to join Kimberly and I for drinks after work." Billy looked worried. "Are you okay? You were just staring off into space for a moment there, and you didn't react at first when I called your-"_ _

__"I'm-I'm fine, Billy." Trini assured him. "Thanks for the invite, but I've got _stuff _I need to do tonight."___ _

___"Oh? _Oh. _. Stuff. I get it." Billy blinked at her with both eyes. He always did have a hard time winking.___ _ _

___"Oh, that's too bad." Kimberly didn't actually seem all that disappointed, though her smile was a good fake. "Maybe next time?"_ _ _

___Ha. Sure. Next time. If Trini had her way, and her investigations were fruitful, there wasn't going to be a next time for Kimberly. God, not like that. That sounded like Trini had something morbid planned for the other girl. It wasn't like that. What she meant was that the _stuff _she needed to do that night was Kimberly. No! Fuck. The stuff she needed to do was _research _on Kimberly. What the fuck was wrong with her?_____ _ _

___Kimberly. Kimberly Hart was what was wrong with her. Curse the woman's attractiveness, it was too distracting._ _ _

___"Are you sure you're okay, Trini?"_ _ _

___Bless Billy and his overly-emphatic heart, Trini wasn't so sure she was._ _ _

............ 

"You seem confident in your abilities." Far, far in the outreaches of space, beyond that of which the human race could scarcely begin to comprehend, something far more sinister was occurring than any ulterior motives that Kimberly Hart might have held. 

"Do you blame me, My Liege? They're all primitive at best. Their strongest technology is millennia behind what we've developed. They're so narrow-minded and simple, they'll be bowing to me in fear as a goddess by the time I'm finished." 

"Then, why do you need my help? My armies?" 

"I know you and of your vision for the future. I'd be foolish to act against you in anyway. Besides it would take me twice as long all by myself. I _could _find it on my own, but with your resources I can unearth the crystal far more quickly." fawned the other.__

__"For someone who used to be one of Eltar's finest warriors, you show far more cunning than I would have ever thought, Repulsa. You have my alliance."_ _

__

"My endless gratitude." The green-clad woman prostrated herself. 

__

"But hear this and heed: Should you fail, by the time I've finished with you, you will long for the slow-crushing death you have in mind for humanity." 

__

Rita Repulsa flinched visibly, but she swallowed and replied nonetheless. "Than I shall not fail you, Lord Thanos."

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, look! I'm actually finally moving the plot along and introducing the villain!


End file.
